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My foreman told me to always run a dry cycle on new programs, and it saved a $15k part yesterday.
He drilled it into my head when I started at the shop in Toledo 3 years ago. I was setting up a complex 5-axis job on our new Okuma, a one-off aerospace bracket. The program looked good, but I ran the dry cycle anyway. It showed a rapid move that would have driven the tool straight into the fixture. Would have wrecked the part and probably the spindle. I spent an extra 20 minutes on the dry run, but it saved a huge headache. How many of you still do a full dry cycle on every new program, or do you trust the simulation more now?
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wrenh656mo ago
Honestly, I get the logic but that seems like overkill on every single program. Our CAM simulation is crazy good now, it shows collisions and everything. I only do a full air cut if it's a super weird setup or the post processor is new. For a proven machine and a standard 3-axis job? I'll maybe run it with the tool way up high, but a full dry cycle eats up so much time. That rapid move error should have been caught in the simulation phase anyway, before it even got to the machine.
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parker_sullivan6mo ago
Exactly what @wrenh65 said. Simulation is great for the toolpath, but it's blind to the real world. You ever have a clamp shift half a millimeter or a chip stuck on a locator? The machine doesn't know. A quick air cut or running it high proves your actual setup, not just the math. Skipping that to save an hour is how you cost the shop ten grand in a crash.
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